Which world event of 2013 meant the most to you?

The year 2013 had many defining moments. The Roman Catholic Church ushered in a new pope, the number of Syrian refugees crossed the 2 million mark, and the Philippines endured the thrashing of a super typhoon.

Which world event — including those we didn’t highlight here — had the biggest impact on you? Tell us below in the comments section.

‘We have a pope’

Pope Francis held a peace vigil for Syria at St. Peter’s Square in Rome in September. Photo by Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

It took cardinals only two days of meeting in the Vatican to determine the successor of retiring Pope Benedict XVI. On March 13, as the telltale white smoke erupted from the Sistine Chapel, word came out that Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the Catholic Church’s next pope — the first Jesuit and the first from South America. He took the name Pope Francis.

Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter described Pope Francis on that day’s PBS NewsHour as “doctrinally conservative” and a “simple and humble man” who decided to forgo the mansion residence for a small apartment when he became archbishop of Buenos Aires.

P.J. Crowley, a former assistant secretary of state for public affairs and now a professor at George Washington University, and Philip Mudd, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation, discussed the fallout from the revelations on the Oct. 25 NewsHour.

Iran’s overtures

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attends a bilateral meeting at the U.N. General Assembly in New York City in September. Photo by Thomas Koehler/Photothek via Getty Images

Egyptians celebrating the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi hold a portrait of Army Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Mohammed Morsi was Egypt’s democratically elected president for just over a year before the military removed him from office on July 3. His detractors said Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party were engaged in a power grab and were unresponsive to the opposition.

It’s a baby boy for the duke and duchess of Cambridge. Photo by Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images

In 1982, the world watched as Prince Charles and Princess Diana emerged from St. Mary’s Hospital in London cradling their firstborn son, William Arthur Philip Louis. This year on July 22, William and Catherine, the duke and duchess of Cambridge, had their own baby boy, George, at the same hospital and under the same international spotlight.

The NewsHour visited several surrounding Middle Eastern countries straining from the influx of refugees, including Lebanon and Jordan’s Zaatari camp.

The war between the government and rebels took a grisly turn when a chemical attack on Aug. 21 killed hundreds of Syrians. In response to the use of deadly sarin gas near Damascus, the Obama administration explored the possibility of a pinpoint strike on Syria’s chemical weapon delivery system.

President Obama told the NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill on Sept. 9 that a diplomatic solution to the chemical weapons strike in Syria is “overwhelmingly my preference.”

Russia brokered a deal that led to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad agreeing to give up the country’s chemical weapons. By Oct. 31, Syria had destroyed all of its declared chemical weapons facilities. Under the deal, Syria has until the middle of 2014 to destroy its chemical weapons stockpiles.

Typhoon pummels the Philippines

Residents of Tacloban in the Philippines survey the damage caused by Typhoon Haiyan. Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

PBS NewsHour allows open commenting for all registered users, and encourages discussion amongst you, our audience. However, if a commenter violates our terms of use or abuses the commenting forum, their comment may go into moderation or be removed entirely. We reserve the right to remove posts that do not follow these basic guidelines: comments must be relevant to the topic of the post; may not include profanity, personal attacks or hate speech; may not promote a business or raise money; may not be spam. Anything you post should be your own work. The PBS NewsHour reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the comments or emails that we receive. By submitting comments, you agree to the PBS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.